#i had breast reduction surgery yesterday

[wolfeyedwitch]

I think whump writing has changed my brain chemistry. I almost passed out today and my biggest thought was "take notes about how this feels, it will make for good details in writing!"

[coochiequeens]

There are so many people and causes that need legal help and the ACLU is helping this freak?

By Genevieve Gluck September 18, 2024

The ACLU has successfully fought to have a transgender baby killer be given taxpayer-funded “gender affirming” surgeries. Yesterday, the United States District Court of Indiana ruled that Autumn Cordellioné, born Jonathan C. Richardson, had been subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment” by being denied the various plastic surgeries he had demanded.

Richardson is currently serving a 55-year sentence for the murder of his 11-month-old stepdaughter. As previously reported by Reduxx, Richardson had been left to care for the child while her mother was at work. That night, he was visited by friends who observed he was “acting strangely” and refused to invite them in the house as he normally would.

Despite claiming the little girl was sleeping, Richardson had loud music playing in the home, and his guests noted that he appeared to have a fresh, bleeding tattoo of the child’s name carved into his arm. Shortly after his friends left, Richardson went to a neighbor’s home and asked them to call 911, claiming the child was unresponsive. The baby would later die at the hospital, with the cause of death determined to be asphyxiation by manual strangulation.

Richardson was booked awaiting a court hearing, and would later tell a prison official “all I know is I killed the little fucking bitch.” The following year, he was found guilty and sentenced to 55 years in prison.

In 2020, while incarcerated at the The Correctional Industrial Facility (CIF) in Madison, Richardson began identifying as transgender and taking estradiol, a synthetic estrogen, and anti-androgen spironolactone. Two years later, Richardson lodged a sexual harassment complaint claiming that he had been raped by his cellmate in 2005, and that he stabbed the inmate in retaliation.

Despite the brutal nature of his crime, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Indiana took up his case and launched a human rights lawsuit against the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC).

In the suit, which was filed in August of 2023, ACLU lawyers refer to Richardson as an “adult transgender female prisoner confined in a male institution,” and complains that “the total ban on gender-affirming surgery violates [his] right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.”

The suit was intended to challenge a recently-adopted policy stipulating that the IDOC cannot provide transgender surgeries to inmates. House Bill 1569, which took effect in July of 2023, bans the spending of state or federal dollars on sexual reassignment surgery for inmates. The bill, the ACLU argues, “mandates deliberate indifference to a serious medical need and therefore violates the Eighth Amendment.”

Among a list of demands prepared by Richardson and presented as evidence in court was a document titled “Surgeries to Reach My Ideal Self.” The first item on the list, the court heard, was a “vagina,” followed by: breast implants, a brow lift, a brow reduction, a tummy tuck, gluteal implants (BBL), a uterus transplant, hair removal, and wigs.

However, during court proceedings Richardson stated that he had amended his demands to two surgeries, an orchiectomy and a penile inversion.

In addition to identifying as transgender, Richardson identifies as “Muslim,” and is currently engaged in a separate lawsuit against his prison’s chaplain for being denied a hijab.

During his deposition, Richardson told the legal counsel for the IDOC, Alex Carlisle, that in 2018, he had been informed about gender identity by another male inmate at CIF who went by the name of “Pearl.” According to Richardson, Pearl had brought in pamphlets from California state prisons that explained the concept of “gender identity” and introduced to him, for the first time, the idea of taking feminizing hormones.

“I always knew I was a girl, didn’t know that term applied. Because until I talked to Pearl I didn’t even really know transgender was the name for it. I was hearing at the time that it was transsexualism and that didn’t seem to fit me because it was apparently people that like to wear girl clothes to have sex,” Richardson said in his deposition.

However, Richardson also stated that while briefly married to the mother of the infant he murdered, he had been working in an “adult bookstore” that sold pornographic videos. While employed as a janitor, Richardson would have sex with various male customers while pretending to be a “girl.”

Richardson further testified that he had taken the feminine name “Autumn” after his high school girlfriend, and said that he used to steal his sister’s clothing and his mother’s makeup as a youth. “When I put on the clothes, I could for a second realize the girl inside,” he said.

“I felt I was only a woman when a man used me,” Richardson remarked. “It was the only acceptable time to be a woman so it brought me a certain amount of satisfaction that I was pleasuring a man like a woman would and I got to express who I was.”

But the mother of the baby girl Richardson strangled to death opposed his legal bid to obtain surgery. Linda Thomas submitted a brief statement expressing her concern that his identity may be concealed from her when he is released from prison.

“On the day he murdered my child, I personally observed Plaintiff with a fresh bleeding tattoo of my child’s name on his arm while I was at the hospital that evening,” Thomas said. “I live in fear for myself and my children of the day [Richardson] is released from prison, which largely increases at the thought that [his] identity may be concealed upon release.”

ACLU attorneys under the leadership of Kenneth Falk attempted to have Thomas’ testimony dismissed as court evidence on the basis that “Ms. Cordellioné objected to the relevance of this declaration.”

During court proceedings, Kate Meltzer, a legal representative for the Office of the Attorney General, emphasized an issue of “timeliness” related to Richardson’s attempts to secure an early release.

On January 4th, Richardson had lodged a pro se request seeking a reduction of his sentence. According to Meltzer, Richardson’s request claimed that the “circumstances that resulted in the crime are no longer present,” as the motivation for the murder of the young girl was “tied to [his] transgender identity and [his] gender dysphoria.”

The court also heard testimony from Stephen B. Levine, a psychiatrist who specializes in sexual dysfunction and transsexualism, who founded the Case Western Reserve Gender Identity Clinic in Cleveland during the 1970’s. Levine was Chair of the fifth edition of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) Standards of Care in 1998. He also served on the American Psychiatric Association DSM-IV Subcommittee on Gender Identity Disorders.

In March of this year, while the case was ongoing, Levine emailed the Attorney General’s counsel Alexander Carlisle pleading with him to empathize with Richardson. According to Dr. Levine, Richardson’s condition “is a product of the need to find coherence, consistency, and stability”. The “countless traumas” experienced by Richardson, the gender clinician said, “began with her birth (actually with her pregnancy)”, indicating his belief that a transgender identity develops in utero.

As noted in court documents, in recent years Dr. Levine derived between 40% to 50% of his income from serving as an expert witness in litigation regarding the treatment of patients with “gender dysphoria”.

The ruling issued by Judge Richard Young on September 17 has far-reaching implications and sets a precedent for further surgeries and hormones to be doled out at taxpayers’ expense. The verdict declares that the statute added to Indiana’s legal code in 2023 barring the DOC from facilitating “medically necessary gender-affirming” surgeries for inmates qualifies as “sex discrimination.”

In a statement on Richardson’s legal win, ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Kenneth Falk said: “Today marks a significant victory for transgender individuals in Indiana’s prisons. Denying evidence-based medical care to incarcerated people simply because they are transgender is unconstitutional. We are pleased that the Court agreed.”

The ACLU has pursued multiple lawsuits in several states against the US prison authorities on behalf of men convicted of horrific crimes. As revealed by Reduxx, a 2019 ACLU lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Corrections which required the state to allow violent male inmates to self-identify into the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women was lodged on behalf of a self-admitted diaper fetishist and convicted terrorist.

Last year, the ACLU of Florida criticized officials for not providing “gender-affirming care” to a convicted rapist and murderer prior to his execution. Duane Owen had been handed a death sentence after brutally murdering a 38-year-old mother and a 14-year-old girl in 1984. Owen claimed that he sexually assaulted women as part of a ritual to harvest their hormones, and that he was a transsexual who carried out the sexual violence to “turn himself into a female.”

[pom-seedss]

I deep cleaned Pebble's cage yesterday.

Fucked it up and made it twice as long to put back together.

Fucked up my side in the process. That and the weather is making it feel like someone is repeatedly stabbing me in the side of the chest.

I really wish I knew exactly what was wrong with that area. Because I've had my heart checked, I've had my stomach checked and neither should be causing this kind of pain.

I really wanna get a mastectomy just so I can access the muscles in that area better tbh, but when I got my reduction I tried so hard to get OHIP to cover a mastectomy option but they absolutely refused. Not having $15k myself, I opted for the reduction. Which helped for awhile.

But not by that much, and not since my breasts started fucking growing again :/

But even if I could, I don't got a lot of blood in me and my iron is shite so I don't even know if surgery is a good idea. I am just...so mad at the state of my health right now.

[sniffanimal]

🏳️‍⚧️

My top surgery countdown widget ticked down to 8 days and I went OH GOD out loud. That's so soon!!!!!!!!!! It was literally 25 days like yesterday what the hell

:vibrates: like I feel like I have so much to do still but not as much time as id like to do it

I need to go to the grocery store, and rearrange my exotics tanks so I can reach all of them more easily during recovery with my no lifting rule (currently I can barely reach the bottom of Philips tank without contorting myself. Imagining doing so with t Rex surgery arms is not fun). Meal prep with my grocery store foods. Clean the pantry out. Do laundry. Buy some trash sheets for my bed so I don't mess my nice Minecraft sheets up. Fucktuple check my recovery checklists. AAAAAAAAAAAAA

I have waited well over a decade for this. Even before I actualized that I was trans, I knew I'd want a breast reduction at the minimum. It's scary because I've never had real surgery before and I know recovery won't be a cakewalk but I'm so done having boobs. So done having severe nip pain. So ready to look how I feel. God it will all be so worth it

Still don't know how much this will cost. My case worker quoted me at "between $750 and $3000" which 3k is way less than I expected it to be, so I'm already happy there. And kaiser does payment plans for big bills so I can pay it off over time, I don't need the cash up front. And since it's summer I won't miss any work, unless I decide to take week 6 of the recovery off work and miss the first week of school. I have enough sick pay that it won't matter financially but my job is one where it's not very good to miss work especially the first week after a break. Luckily I think I'll be okay to return to work after 5 weeks of recovery, but I won't really know until I'm recovered lol!

[yokai]

i had breast reduction surgery yesterday and my back, neck and shoulders are already thanking me

[melancholy-barbie]

bras vent

maybe im being dramatic but im really angry. yesterday morning i was getting ready but all my tops were in my moms closet so i went there in my bra, she looked at me and asked if my boobs had gotten smaller?* and then she was like "why does your bra look wrong" and she came up behind me and started tightening the straps even though i kept saying stop and to leave them alone, and i was kinda twisting/stepping away (not very strongly tho so it wasnt like she held me down, as a disclaimer) but she just followed and was like "no it'll look wrong" like what?? a) i wear baggy clothes, it's not gonna show unless someone's staring obsessively. b) if someone *is* staring obsessively that's gross af?? esp because i don't go out often so it would have to be someone from my family, and c) WHO TF CARES. but we had to leave and i didnt have time to really think about it

but then later i kept finding more and more reasons i had the straps like that, and it was annoying as hell and then today i was like (offhandedly) "oh it's chafing because you tightened the straps" and she was like "you'll get bad posture and saggy breasts and need reduction surgery when you're older" and i cant say i've done much research but people i trust more have told me thats bs. and it's not like i was refusing to even wear one, i hate not wearing a bra! i just want it to be loose!! why is that so problematic?

and im so annoyed because we're just brainwashed into fixing ourselves for men and their standards and the consequence isn't just that we're "ugly" but that we're "unhealthy." and again it's mothers who teach misogyny to their daughters. women who continue the cycle. men have managed to offload even the bulk of our own oppression onto us.

*(not in a sexual or obsessed w my weight way tho, idk how to explain properly but it didnt feel creepy or freak me out, just a little bit weird but also mostly typical of her; also i have been losing weight quickly and the doc told us to watch that)

[garagevermin]

(this is long n has many pieces but bare with me) so I went skating the other day and I was thinking about something Bryan said in one of the videos he did with jacksepticeye, that Connor stands with all of his weight back in his heels. ofc he has perfect posture so I was thinking to myself “let’s channel Connor” and realized having your weight in your heels works out just fine for figure skating. in fact, he’d probably do really well since I imagine he’s got a built in good sense of balance. However. he would do TERRIBLY in hockey skates. in hockey skates, if your weight is balanced too far forward or back you will simply fall over because the ends of the blade are rounded (figure skates have a toe pick on one end and an edge on the other).

so consider: Connor goes skating, perhaps with Hank (who I can see having played hockey back in the day). he is abnormally good at it, much to Hank’s chagrin. at Hank’s insistence, he puts on hockey skates, confident that his balance function will continue to work regardless. he proceeds to immediately fall on his ass. Hank, naturally, is incredibly entertained by this (as he should be)

[sapphic-sex-ed]

I am a sapphic woman that is beginning to move to a more masculine style. I have large breasts (36DDD or 38DD), and I want to bind or at least minimize them. The problem is that I sometimes have difficulty breathing. I don't know what's wrong - I just had a pulmonary (lungs) function test yesterday. Can anyone (mods or followers) recommend something that would be safe and comfortable? Thank you.

If you’re having trouble breathing, I can’t safely recommend traditional binders until the underlying problem is addressed. Binders restrict and put pressure on the ribcage and lungs, which can make breathing more difficult even for people without such problems. If it’s not possible to diagnose or treat your condition, you may want to try trans tape (kinetic tape) which doesn’t restrict or compress. Here is an article on how to use tape, and here is a video on how to apply it featuring a trans model with a larger chest size. (Never use duct tape or Ace bandages to bind, as they are designed to constrict and can severely hurt you.) If trans tape doesn’t work for you or is outside your budget, try simply layering. Loose button downs and jackets or sweatshirts over tight undershirts and a sports bra, for example, can really minimize the appearance of a larger chest. You may also want to consider breast reduction surgery.

- Mod Honey

[writterings]

Do you have any advice for binders? I have pretty small boobs (I think they're around Bs) so I can generally wear a sports bra and loose shirt and be fine. But yesterday was a boy day and i just couldn't get anything to work to the point where I almost had a panic attack in my room. My dysphoria keeps getting worse but at the same time I've heard really bad things can happen from binding improperly so I'm scared

Glad you asked me, because I’ve basically done everything you’re NOT supposed to do while binding because I’m Just Like That, unfortunately. But anyways, binding is not as scary as a lot of people make it out to be - like, yeah, it can fuck up your ribs but so can wearing the wrong sized bra. It’s all about risk reduction, which is actually really easy once you get the hand of it. Also, disclaimer, but all of this is my own personal advice from my own experiences and studies and not professional advice. Here is my advice:

Okay so basically don’t use ace bandages or wraps or anything like that, since they don’t expand when you breathe and hurt your ribs. Also try to stay away from binders with zippers, snaps, and velcro, since they don’t expand as much as they should. Post-surgery binders are something you should also stay away from since they are not meant to compress breasts but rather alleviate swelling after surgery. 

Buy them from reputable sources like gc2b or Underworks. Tbh, I actually only trust gc2b from personal experience and they were the only brand of binder I bought. Don’t buy from Amazon, they have a trash selection. Also, I recommend not buying from small start-ups or influencers or popular brands like Flavnt - like, while it’s great to support small businesses, I find that I’m personally more comfortable buying from brands that have been around longer and are known specifically for their binders. 

Buy a binder that fits - usually the same size as your T-shirt size. Don’t buy smaller, because that will hurt you so bad and squeeze your ribs even more. 

(Also, this is a small pet peeve and ultimately unrelated, but when you google smth like “binders” or “best binders” this article pops up and it’s infuriating because most of the binders on there are trash lmfao.)

Since you mentioned you have small breasts, you could potentially also try TransTape. It only goes on your front, so it doesn’t affect your ribs at all and you can wear it for multiple days at a time. I tried it once and actually really liked it - but it didn’t get me flat since I had DD breasts. My friend who is like an A or B cup can wear it and get perfectly flat with no discomfort though. You’ll avoid a lot of the risks of binding with TransTape. Invest in baby oil if you use it though. 

Also for binding, make sure to “break in” a new binder before wearing it for an extended period of time. Your body will need to get used to it, and your binder will need to stretch a bit so it’s comfortable on your body. I recommend breaking one in by just wearing it around the house for 2-4 hours for about a week, and then you should be good. 

Once it’s broken in, you can start wearing it out for around 8 hours at a time. While life happens and sometimes you get the 12 hours shift in which you can’t take off your binder nor want to, I still recommend trying to meet the 8 hour cut off as often as possible. I recently had top surgery a few months ago and apparently, I had several different types of fibrosis growing in my chest due to my improper binding habits over the past six years. Like, it didn’t affect my ability to get surgery and it wasn’t painful as I had gotten used to it - but this is something you’ll want to keep in mind if you can’t get or don’t want top surgery.

Also try not to wear a binder when you have a cold, since it already somewhat restricts your breathing. I once dislocated a rib when I binded and had bronchitis because my chest couldn’t expand fully when I coughed and thus fucked up my ribs. Don’t wear a binder when exercising as well for similar reasons, since your chest won’t be able to expand fully in and that’s kinda important when doing cardio. Finally, also, don’t sleep in a binder - your breathing slows and your chest expands more when you sleep - but if you’re wearing a binder, it restricts how much you inhale, and thus you’ll wake up asphixating. 

Finally, you can bind and swim too. I recommend getting a binder a size up from your usual size, as water makes material stick to you even more. Gc2b’s binders are waterproof, and so is TransTape. 

Anyway, hope this helps! Feel free to DM if you have any questions. 

[poes-and-things]

yesterday my 18 yr old female student told me that she would be getting breast reduction surgery on tuesday and i responded in an incredibly ecstatic nature. genuinely. she’s had issues with back pain since i met her, and even in that timid admittance of the surgery i could see how happy and relieved she was. eventually she grinned and said that my reaction was the best she’s received and that it made her feel so warm and accepted and i just...

how hard is it to read people and give them the support they so desperately need? i don’t care if it’s not something you would do--you’re not doing it. kids and young adults deserve to have support for their decisions and having that support allows them the confidence to continue making difficult decisions for their benefit and not others’.

anyway. my student is hella excited and i’m so pleased she’s getting some help.

[cvitiepipp]

Breast reduction update:

I’m going to keep posting these because I know there’s not a lot of information out there from personal experience.

-it’s been a full week and I’m honestly in more pain than I was the day after surgery. I’ve finished taking nerve blockers they gave me and I’m almost done with my pain meds that I’ve been trying not to use because they only have me a few and I’m trying to save her for really bad days. But lately they have all been bad days. At first I was just sore but now I’ve been feeling random stabbing pains or pinches and I’m so fucking sore. My chest and ribs feel like I’m covered in bruises.

-I had my first check up yesterday. I went in they looked and said everything looked good. When she first took off my bra I realized just how much the bra was holding me in because my breast were bigger than I thought anf I instantly felt the gravity which kind of hurt. They told me they removed 1.5 pounds from each breast which I was expecting it to be more but she said that’s kinda lot. She said they looked nice from a drs perspective but for me not to freak out because they are still swollen and healing and far from the final results but I was too scared to look! She also informed that I only had a lollipop incision so nothing under my boobs. Which was odd because under my boobs was what was bothering me the most when I moved around. Then she removed my bandages and placed waterproof tape over my incision so I can now shower. So I’ll most likely take my first shower today or tomorrow and I’m honestly so nervous.

- last night I also slept in my bed for the first time which I regret! I’m goi my back on the couch tonight. Right before I went to bed I felt like my bra was bunched up so I tugged the bottom down and I felt a pinch and that my bra was stuck to Something then when I woke up I noticed dried blood so I showed my mom and she told me to pull it up so she can see and when I did I felt the tug again like it’s stuck to something so I’m nervous to take off my bra

[unicorinspace]

So I had surgery yesterday! Breast reduction surgery to combat chronic upper back pain and up my quality of life. The insurance paid for it because it was deemed “medically nessecary” (thank fuck), and now I’m in recovery for the next three weeks.

I already feel better, body wise. Sure it’s not a flat chest like I wanted but the doctor said if I heal fine, my chest could go from G’s to C’s!

I haven’t been a C since I hit puberty. My chest went from flat to D’s in a couple months, and it’s going to feel soooooo good.

I’ll actually fit into clothes and bras off the rack, and not have to go up so much that tge rest of my body drowns in it! I’ll have to modify some of the my shirts but I can do it!!

[thecitylightshow]

Surgery done!!

Yesterday I had a bilateral breast reduction, and everything went well!! I'm 3.4kg lighter, and bloody happy even if everything hurts! Here's to an easier future post-recovery....

@codeflaws and @the-flightoficarus your birthday gifts are coming. Bare with me. 💖💖

[queenofzan]

yeah so, i started testosterone three weeks ago? i think i tweeted more about it than posted here. it was...much easier for me to get on hormones than it was for my wife. i kind of got the impression, from sitting through both the “feminizing” and “masculinizing” (ugh) hormone therapy orientation talks that testosterone is generally safer and better understood, which...isn’t really surprising i guess

so my bloodwork came back, my lipids/cholesterol were high but not enough to justify not giving me the hormone, just enough that my doc recommended i follow up with my pcp

i had to wait A WHOLE TWO EXTRA DAYS to get the hormones bc i think the pharmacy had to order the right size needles, and then i had them but i didn’t want to have to do injections on thursdays so i waited until i woke up on friday. so fridays are now Testosterone Days for me, and i had my third dose yesterday

i talked a little bit about being like IS THIS THE HORMONE WORKING YET re: skin and hair stuff. it’s possible i’m a little oilier but it’s also possible it’s summer and i have indifferent hygiene when i don’t have a job/school to regulate my schedule and remind me i need to be presentable

like i said i’m PRETTY SURE my steadily rising libido over the last week is a hormones thing. i have a high enough sex drive normally that it’s actually a relief that antidepressants do seem to damp it down a little, but that also means i’m pretty familiar with how even small hormonal changes with my meds/timing can, uh, ramp it up. earlier this week i wasn’t sure if it was just the right time in my bleeding-free cycle (lack of actual period makes it hard to keep track of) but i am pretty sure there is a substantitive difference in my physical experiences at this point

for instance, the easier-to-acquire clitoral orgasms i posited might happen! which is nice. i did not have to struggle to have a satisfying orgasm, i just, got horny, and stayed horny, and decided to go masturbate, and had a good time. wild.

that’s pretty much the only thing i could say for sure as yet, though. i mean i did get annoyed enough, looking at clothes and specifically tops earlier this week, to start doing research about breast reduction surgery, and not terribly shockingly, there are multiple surgeons in the twin cities who do it, at least two who specialize in gender confirmation surgeries, and at least two who take insurance, so, i’m thinking about that. idk if it would be a great idea to have a fairly major surgery during my first year of grad school but i guess 27.5 is my limit on putting up with it. (okay technically the limit is like 16? i think i got boobs when i was like 11, was excited for approximately a month, and then decided it sucked that running and physical activity was more difficult)

it DOES seem like it would be easier to get a reduction surgeon to agree to actually go as small as i want if i approach it through the gender lines, as opposed to the “i just need smaller boobs for my health” line--most of the people i saw online talked about having to argue with their surgeon or being unhappy with how big they remained after surgery. most plastic surgeons doing breast reductions are men. i’m sure those facts aren’t related in any way.

i would have to get a letter from my therapist in order to do it via gender confirmation coverage, but corliss already offered to write me whatever letters i need, and it sounded like i wouldn’t have to talk to her in too much detail about it if i didn’t want to, so that’s nice.

idk it sort of feels like, well if i’ve gotten the ball rolling on part of the gendershit, i might as well keep going

[blackdragon-sama]

my breast reduction experience

i'm back home from the hospital after my reduction and i'd like to share my experience for those interestedalso to vent a bit about my nice-but-also-hella-annoying bed neighbour.

i went in on thursday morning, to get prepped, see the doc and settle into my room i was given the choice to either stay overnight before the surgery, or come in at 7 on friday morningi chose to stay overnight, since i knew it'd be much easier if i could just stay in bed until they wheeled me in for surgery. rather than having to haul my stuff and myself to the hospital with the bus, high on adrenaline and panicwas the right decision, too early in the morning, a nurse woke me and i went to change into the very sexy piece of fishnet they use as panties and the butt-free gown thingi swear, those mesh panties are the worst.but, i got a dose of lorazepam to make up for it, and was wheeled downstairs and into the wake-up room, from which i was wheeled in for the anaesthesia prep.a very nice lady (i don't know if she was an anaesthesiologist or assistant or nurse....) helped me put on the hair net and put an IV into my hand, chatting a little with me, which helped with the anxiety. at this point i was glad for the lorazepam, because i was nervous as fuck, even with it. they didn't make me count or anything, just told me to breathe in all that nice oxygen, and then they told me when they inected the good stuff and - like with the two general anaesthesias i had before - i went under complaining about the pain XDit's like, the last two seconds before you go under, your face, or in one case, arms, get really bad pins-and-needles, and it's one of the grossest feelings ever, but it's literally just a second or two and then you're out. the first thing i remember after coming to, is people coming to my bed and telling me to take breaths, or to breathe in deeper.i had a little trouble with my oxygen levels for a while, but they put an oxygen tube thingie into my nose, with a piece of sponge around it to keep it in place, i also remember telling someone i was feeling nauseous, and i think they gave me some medication for that. i was in no pain at all, just super woozy and confused why it was already around 3 in the afternoon. surgery must've taken WAY longer than 2-4 hours, since they put me under at 7:30, and i came to enough to ask the time at 3 in the afternoon.back in my room i asked for my phone and sent a few typo-heavy drunk texts to my mom and my girlfriend to let them know i was still alivestill no pain, dizziness, overall "just trying to sleep"-iness. a nurse came in some time later, to help me get up and pee. i didn't think i needed to, but she told me they put five liters of whatever (saline, probably) into me during the surgery and after, and i do know that getting up is important after surgeryso, she hooks me under and butt-naked me (surgical bra and mesh panties only. sexy. comfortable. not basically literally ass-naked) shuffles over to the bathroom, nurse carrying the big drainage bottles.i could feel my ears rushing and hearing static the moment i stood, but i managed to sit down and do the deed. on the way back to the bed, i nearly passed out, but nurse and another nurse got me back safely and i could sleep some moreduring the night, i am woken up a few times, by a male nurse who comes to open my bra and check the bandages and palpate my new tiny tiddies for anything bad.it's a bit disorienting to be subjected to someone messing with your boobs when you're more asleep than anything, but the whole staff was super nice and gentle with me, on saturday, post-op day 1, i managed to somehow pull at my right-side drainage and the bitch gave me trouble for the entirety of its stay in my boob, and it's still the more sensitive side >_>my new boobs looked soooo teeny tiny! to be honest, while i was excited, i was also a little scared that they'd become too small, but that feeling came and went, and looking back, i know it was simply the shock of the /difference/. day one was mostly spent entirely in bed, since my circulation was still pretty bad, and getting up gave me big troublesluckily, the nurses all were very very nice and refilled my water bottle for me and helped me get to the bathroom and back, and iirc, in the afternoon, i managed to put on some real panties and a shirt. MUCH better!also, on saturday, my girlfriend came to visit and it was really nice <3as for pain, i wasn't in any mentionable pain, other than that bitch of a drainage tube. that shit hurt like hell, while my boobs themselves almost didn't hurt at alli was, and still am, quite surprised they weren't painful. (given, i was taking ibuprofen 600 3x a day) sore, of course, and tender, and feeling about ready to pop with how taut they were, but not painful, i didn't and don't feel the incisions or the sutures/stitchesi stopped taking any pain meds yesterday, which was post-op day 5, and i only needed one ibu on tuesday) sleeping on my back is lame. and waking up on sunday, i had a major headache, that even the ibuprofen didn't manage to helpi think it was a mix of my neck being overly tense, plus leftover surgery and anesthesia meds that messed with my head (i read that having migraines puts you at a higher risk of post-op headaches) sunday was the day where i started to get lots better. i could get up on my own for the bathroom, and even the little trip down the hall to the water fountain dispenser thingie, and in the afternoon/early evening, i even managed to take the elevator to the ground floor and grab some well-earned sweets from the little shop there. the headache was the biggest discomfort, other than the drainage tube pulling occasionally, and my petty room mate... boy... by that point she was getting SO annoying. she had had surgery the day before me, a procedure to put an expander under the skin of her face, to grow skin to remove a mark from her face (i don't know what it's called, in german, it's a fire's mark, basically a large, deep red/purple mark that's puffy and you're usually born with it)i think she's russian? she had a heavy accent, and the first pieces of conversations i remember clearly were of her complaining about refugees and how they have so many kids only to cash in on social child support money (which is a thing in germany, but, well, for citizens, not for refugees...) i tried half-heartedly explaining that refugees aren't here for shits and giggles, and no, they don't get child support money from the state. they get, if at all, a bare minimum to feed and clothe themselves.... i didn't want to antagonize her, because in my drugged-up, post-surgery state, i was having paranoia she would try suffocating me in my sleep. (which i was aware of was purely my anxiety talking, but, y'know, i didn't want to pick fights either way, and delicate topics are best discussed if you have the opportunity to leave.)next thing i very clearly remember her doing was antagonizing the nurse that wanted to put a new something into her iv. the thing was, the nurse sneezed. into her shoulder. before moving to continue with the tubes. roomie gives her shit about that. how it's unacceptable that she'd sneeze onto the needle and get her germs all over the place, and how that's unprofessional and why she wasn't getting new needles and all that the nurse calmly explained she wasn't sick, it was just a little sneeze and she didn't get anything onto the stuff. discussions ensue. nurse sents me an "is this really happening?!" look, and i just give a helpless grin-shrug, because, yeah, it was happening. nurse was clearly heavily annoyed, but managed to finish putting the iv thing into her before leaving a little louder than necessary.i can understand voicing your concerns about hygiene and your worries. that's good. not good is picking fights with the people taking care of you. like... i caught myself thinking, every single time lady next to me went to complain or whine about something (which she did... /quite/ a lot) that, if i am in a hospital, dependent on the care of the staff, that the LAST thing i want to do is being a bitch to them?i'll do my damndest to be polite at least, friendly whenever i can, so they know i appreciate the help. being nice to your nurse means your nurse will do their best to care for you, and maybe put in a little more effort than absolutely necessary (like offering to fill my water bottle for me) and if someone has to sit me onto the toilet becauce i can't pee by myself, the least they deserve is me not bitching. seriously, the lady was nice enough, overall, but man... she also was entitled and just that special little snowflake kind of person. complaining about her boyfriend not taking the day off work so he'd be available all day to pick her up whenever she was discharged... i understand the thought behind it, but i also understand you can't just leave work just like that. and she was better off than me, mobility-wise, she could've taken a taxi or even public transport (given, i wouldn't have, either) or just waited for him until he could leave work)aaaaaanyway, on monday, headache was getting better, and my surgeon came in to check up on his work, he finally told me how much he removed, and it was WAY more than i expected or he estimated before,he'd told me, he'd remove about a kilo of tissue per side, which seemed a good weight, (i'd weighted them before, and they were about 2 kilos each, according to my kitchen scale XD )and it ended up being 1,4 kilos per side... that's almost 3 kilos! that's, like, two whole chickens! i was pretty shocked, but also excited, because, for the first time i really understood how HUGE my boobs had been. and how reasonable and right my decision was. i have no regrets and even in between never had any, but i had my doubts about the necessity of this whole thing, a lot of the time, i felt like it was a mood, or a phase, something i wanted out of a whim, rather than that i really needed it. it was my idea, and i wanted it, and as such, as a non-essential surgery, i was scared that i was doing something wrong. that it'd end up turning out bad, simply because of my paranoia-driven fear of karmic punishment for wanting something like that without it being unavoidable (like my gallbladder surgery) but hearing how much he'd removed, and given how much is still left, and how i now have an average pair of breasts for a woman of my stature, it took some guilt off me. also, by monday, i was starting to feel the first effects of the weightloss. i could sit up without using my arms (which was still being a bitch, because it'd pull on the damn drainage), like doing a situp, and it was sooo easy!even right now, i'm still too overall sore/tender to really notice a direct difference, but indirectly, it's already so amazing! i'm sitting up straighter without even noticing, i can breathe freely, which is odd, but i keep noticing how free my chest feels, like i'm expecting it to feel tight or heavy, but it isn't,on monday, the drainage tubes were FINALLY removed and it was glorious!i could stay until tuesday, and it was good i got to stay another day, because walking around was, and is, still somewhat tedious.on wednesday, i had a bit of an emotional crash. i guess it's the physical shock of surgery/injury and the medication wearing off, coupled with the relief of being at home and knowing you can relax now, i was dissociating a little, on and off through the day, feeling weepy and alone and all thatbuuuut that went away, too, and today, post-op day 6, i'm still a little tender and weak, but overall, i'm doing pretty fine!i can wash myself on my own, even my hair, and i am in SO much less pain than i expected. like... i was preparing to be out of commission completely for the entirety of the three weeks vacation i took off of work, but if things continue like this, going back in two and a half weeks will be absolutely possible. i catch myself being a little too enthusiastic sometimes, like trying to reach up to open/close my skylight window and getting a little reminder NOT to stretch up my arms all the way. or having to take a break from walking up the stairs and having to sit a couple minutes in the house's staircase on the way up to my appartment (we don't have an elevator)the most uncomfortable thing right now is the itching. the medical bra rubs against the edge of the steri-strips, where my skin is taut and dry and it's leaving mild imprints and it ITCHES and it's driving me insane, but it doesn't hurt, and it doesn't seem to mess with the stitches, so i'm trying not to complain too hard. all things considered, and with how weak and sore i was, right now, as i'm typing this, i'd do it all over again. i don't want to jinx anything, so i won't jubilate, but overall, i'm pleasantly surprised by how well things have been so far. i like my tiny new boobs, and i hate the itching, i love how much longer my torso looks, and i'm looking forward so much to buying beautiful bras and all the pretty swimwear i couldn't before, because it would never fit my boobs....aah <3next week i'll go in to have my stitches removed (they're not the dissolving kind) and i'm a little worried how the scars will hold, but i'm also eager to start using lotions and all the good stuff to help the skin recover i will recommend this procedure to anyone that's considering it, and i'm so happy that the surgery went well and my new boobs look perfect! (if still a little crinkly around the scars XD )

[ashphoenix06]

Seriously guys.... I could use your help on an argument I’m currently having with my best friends...

Don’t get me wrong... I love those ladies to death... still...

As I’ve stated in a previous post, I’ve had weight issues my whole life. I’ve been between chunky and skinny too many times to remember... obviously, this lead to my skin stretching a bit... which got worse when I was pregnant...

I’m eating better and exercising because of my blood pressure, so I’m losing weight. I mean... losing 30lbs in the span of 2018??? Hell ya!

But with all the positivity, I’m still left with one confidence crippling fact, though I might be shrinking in weight, that stretched skin is not and will more than likely never shrink back.

I talked with my doctor yesterday about my concerns and she told me with how bad my skin was stretched after my pregnancy, the only option I would have to get rid of it is cosmetic surgery...

I’ve never considered getting any form of cosmetic surgery in my life....

*Really, Ash? ... What about your bosoms in high school???*

Okay..... mmmmaaaayyyybbbeeeee only ever considered breast reduction....

*Better*

.... but now, I’m honestly starting to think about it... just to get rid of that excess, saggy skin I’m gonna eventually have...

But my besties are dead set against it... they say that I should love my body how it is and that since I’m married, so long as my hubby still finds me attractive...

BUT! That’s all well and good, but what about how I feel??? What if I don’t find myself attractive??? What if my confidence is brought down every time I look in a mirror???

I know they’re only trying to look out for me, but this is something I’m actually considering. What do you guys think? Do you side with their argument or do you side with mine?

Please help... I could really use you guys opinion on this.

Love you guys lots. 💚💚💚💚